The creative experience

As a creative professional you already have everything you need to be your creative best, it’s just sometimes, something gets in your way, something blocks your flow and your capacity to create.

There’ll be times when the ideas keep coming, when you’re on a roll and everything just clicks. Working with your colleagues is energising as you build on each others great ideas. Everyone is heard, encouraged, supported and the studio vibe is upbeat and fun. Your ideas develop at unbelievable speed and you know the creative impact you're going to make. You're enthusiastic and passionate about delivering your ideas. You feel fulfilled, alive and on it and with luck the reputation of the studio is going to go through the roof. This is why you do what you do; to innovate, to push the boundaries, to excel and to thrive at what you do best.

Then there'll be times when a deadline is looming, you're surrounded by empty coffee cups and the screen is blank. Morale is low and you bash heads with your colleagues. As the pressure mounts no one’s listening or connecting. Time is spent batting down ideas before they’ve had the chance to be really heard. You're tense and frustrated, it’s a crucial pitch, the studio’s credibility is on the line. You repurpose previous ideas just to get something done. You feel the frustration of being formulaic, repetitive, of feeling uninspired and drained. Doubt and indecision are at the forefront of your mind, and you feel heavy, low and disengaged. As overwhelm hits you start to doubt your own creative ability and secretly worry that you might actually be losing it.

So where are you spending most of your professional working life – in block or flow?

Whatever your experience at work may be, there is an understanding that can show you how to navigate your blocks and spend much more of your time in the flow. It’s what I teach, write about and share – and I’m passionate about it, because it works.

People who think too much, by and large, don’t see themselves as having a problem. They see themselves as responding to the pace of their life. They see themselves as doing the thinking that’s necessary. However, if you are plagued by the busy mind, it’s bad for you.Dr George Pransky, Psychologist, USA

With the frenetic pace of modern working life, you may be use to living with a super revved-up mind, one that runs on overdrive from the moment you wake to the moment you rest. That fast-paced constant whirring of your mental gears may have become your norm, who you are and how you roll.

Yet, there are two thinking gears to the mind that we’re all capable of using.

Psychologist Dr George Pransky calls these two different states Active thinking and Passive thinking.

In other words, you’re either pumping the pedals or you’re freewheeling.

We must make the same progress for the health of our minds that we have achieved for the health of our bodies. And when we do, we will look back and think that this was our time’s greatest contribution to human flourishing. Mental Health Foundation, UK

October 10th is recognised as World Mental Health Day. Founded by the World Federation for Mental Health, it’s in its 25th year. This year, the focus is on psychological and emotional well-being in the workplace.

“Good mental health is fundamental to thriving in life. It is the essence of who we are and how we experience the world. Yet, compared to physical health, so little is commonly known about mental ill health and how to prevent it. That must change.”

The creative industry has a growing problem when it comes to mental health and it’s not going away any time soon.

The pressure of needing to create new, groundbreaking, pioneering, breathtaking ideas – daily, weekly, monthly, yearly – in fact for the whole expanse of your creative career, is a big enough work challenge as it is.

Then add the emerging culture of creativity-on-demand along with the rapid speed of disruptive technological change, no wonder more and more creatives are struggling with anxiety, stress-related illnesses, burnouts and mental breakdowns.

Loud noise has become one of the greatest irritants at work. One study showed that 99% of employees reported that their concentration was impaired by various types of office noise, especially telephones left ringing at vacant desks and people talking in the background. Eve Edelstein, Neuro-architect, Arizona USA

Police riot vans with sirens blazing, streets of football fans booming out chants and an automated bird-call squawking at regular individuals throughout the day. This was the surrounding environment during a sign writing course I took in London Borough Market.

It was extremely loud.

To add to this, the course was held within the Market Hall, next to the outer glass wall which extends onto the High Street.

Noises of people and traffic sat one side, while the hustle and bustle of the market sat the other.

It was continuously noisy throughout the whole day, so why was my internal experience of the day one of focus, flow and the enjoyment of spending 6 hours hand-painting letters?

One should never impose one’s views on a problem; one should rather study it, and in time a solution will reveal itself. Albert Einstein

The creative process is a natural function of every single human being. It is not exclusively creative, yet it is how ‘creation’ or ideas happen.

In 1926, Graham Wallas, an English social psychologist, observed this natural function and published ‘The Art of Thought’ which presented a model outlining the four stages of creativity, known today as the creative process.

Preparation and Implementation are the more tangible and conscious aspects of the process, the mental ‘doing’ – the intention, the brief, the research, the mind-map, the study, the materials, the production, the delivery.

Incubation and Illumination are the more intangible and unconscious aspects of the process, the mental ‘not doing’. (However, throughout the implementation process there can be countless cycles of incubation and illumination as an idea develops into production.)

Mind feels light and inspired. Happy and full of energy. Senior Digital Designer’s experience of flow

Flow makes you feel happy.* In 1992, professor Mihaly Csiksentmilhalyi published a book about his decades of research into ‘optimal perfomance’ and put a name to this new psychology – flow. Over the years his book ‘Flow’ has become a classic work on how to achieve happiness.

Csiksentmilhalyi’s work was revolutionary in the field of psychology because until that time, psychology had almost solely been focused on the ‘negatives’ of human experience and behaviour, and not the ‘positives’.

In brief, Csiksentmilhalyi’s research shows that to access a flow state that can bring you happiness, fulfilment and even joy, you need to have a goal, either internal or external, to challenge your existing skill set, one that puts your ability to the test and requires your full attention to do so.

We started working on this project 7 years ago, with the idea that it would take 18 months. In the 84 months it took to complete this small film, it attracted every possible catastrophe I could imagine, including the death of our co-director. Working on The Happy Film made me profoundly unhappy. Stefan Sagmeister, Graphic Designer & Director of The Happy Film

Renowned Austrian Graphic Designer, Stefan Sagmeister, turned himself into a design project to see if it was possible to redesign his personality to become a better version of himself and ultimately, a happier one.

With social psychologist Jonathan Haidt as his advisor, author of “The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom”, Sagmeister conducted three controlled experiments grading himself on a sort of happiness gauge, while partaking in a Health Meditation Technique, Cognitive Appraisal Therapy and Psycho-pharmacological Drugs. His personal life, his work life and the journey of both was meticulously and beautifully documented in The Happy Film.

Thought creates our world then says ‘I didn’t do it.’ David Bohm, Scientist

Understanding what blocks you is the key to understanding what makes you flow. To understand this takes a journey of self-discovery, one that takes you from your outer world to your inner world, and to your experience of both.

Flow is always there, it never goes away. It’s a constant that just patiently waits for you to access it when nothing else gets in your way.

You innocently allow blocks to occur due to a number of outer and inner circumstances, yet both types of circumstances always point to the same thing – to you being the experiencer.

The sad truth is most adults I know are screen addicts. But luckily for most of them that affliction isn’t career-threatening. Creatives, I’m afraid, need to be more vigilant. John Long, Group Creative Director at Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Agency

In creative working life there are a myriad of distractions that chip away, reduce and hinder your creativity.

Among these distractions, the major creativity-quashing culprits are Network Tools; e-mail, SMS, social media and the likes of Twitter, Facebook, Google, Instagram, Snapchat… part of a list that will only continue to get longer.

Creatives are ideas people. Your job is to come up with and implement new ideas on a daily, weekly, monthly basis and to do this you need some headspace.

Network Tools fill that headspace with constant activity. They fill your head with thoughts that consume your attention, send your mind in distracting directions and stop you from accessing flow.

John Long, Group Creative Director at Ogilvy wrote an article ‘Why iPhones are killing your creativity’ in Campaign Magazine. He astutely describes the level of distraction that happens when we seemingly ‘work’ on a project:

Live out of your imagination, not your history. Stephen R Covey, Author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

At the end of last year was fortunate enough to attend a talk on creativity given by Sir John Hegarty, Worldwide Creative Director and Founder of BBH Advertising Agency.

Sir John has over six decades experience working in advertising and has received numerous awards for his adverts for Levi’s and Audi as well as many accolades for worldwide marking campaigns such as British Airways, Lynx, Johnnie Walker and Boddingtons.

He’s knows his stuff. He’s been there, done that, over and over again.

I have great admiration for Sir John and what he has achieved and pioneered within the creative industry. I’ve read his books and use many of his thoughts in my work, so I was all ears to hear first-hand his words of vast experience and wisdom regarding creativity.

After 10 minutes of a very enjoyable talk, he said something that I really wasn’t expecting:

Creatives do their best work in the first 10 years and then repeat themselves for the next 10.

Hello there

Hi, I’m Donna Churchman. During my 22 years in the creative industry, I've had my share of anxiety, overwhelm and burnout that blocked my creativity and impacted my mental health. By understanding what happens and why, I now help other creative professionals through these experiences, so they can achieve high levels of mental wellbeing and a renewed ability to create.

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